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Sony DHG-HDD250/500: Official Thread - Page 864

post #25891 of 28406
11/28/12 at 10:43pm
In the 9012 menu, does formatting the hard disk also nuke the TVGOS channel grid and clock?

Tonight I finished dubbing all the recordings that I wanted to keep from one of my DHG's (a 250) to my MacBook via a Hauppauge HD PVR, and deleted them from the DHG. The system menu now shows about 88% free disk space, even though there are no recordings left in the list. I'm curious to see what the free space would be after a re-format, but I'd prefer not to lose the grid and clock prematurely, in case I want to use it as a backup recording device.
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post #25892 of 28406
11/29/12 at 3:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by linkstur View Post

At worst case, I plan on still using this (at least for a while) as an HD tuner. I only have one HD TV in the house but plan on buying another one for Christmas. Rather than paying the cable company 12-15/month to rent their tuner, the Sony will fill that role, at least for the short term..
I presume you mean "tuner with a cable card" since HDTVs already have a tuner. They don't charge you anything for the cable card?
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post #25893 of 28406
11/29/12 at 4:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frank70 View Post

I presume you mean "tuner with a cable card" since HDTVs already have a tuner. They don't charge you anything for the cable card?

Where I live, the first CableCard is free, additional cards are $2 each per month.
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post #25894 of 28406
11/29/12 at 4:53am
DFW is working again.

So we are watching one of the November recorded shows late yesterday. A Sony screen message comes on and says: “The Sony Box needs to turn off so an important program update can be received” (something like that, and the first time I have seen it). So I accept “OK” and not cancel.

Come back a couple of hours later, and there is no change in anything I can see. So we just watched Survivor live last night and left the box off(what a PITA – Commercials and wasted time).

Anyway, this morning the box must have gotten what it needed and did its own type of “reset” during the night; but it’s not recorded on the reset screen – now that’s strange. And it finally got “two” timezonepackets and a grid. Even though the reset screen does not show this, most of the data flow screens started over – just like it had a front panel reset; but without showing this on the reset screen.

When the Sony does die, the alternatives are bleak. Sort of looking at Boxee, where you pay for the grid via online and your DVR is in the cloud – how stupid is that. The Boxee might be slightly better alternative than TiVo. Basically you pay a lot of money and get a lot less. I may just give up TV and go fishing.
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post #25895 of 28406
11/29/12 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by linkstur View Post

At worst case, I plan on still using this (at least for a while) as an HD tuner. I only have one HD TV in the house but plan on buying another one for Christmas. Rather than paying the cable company 12-15/month to rent their tuner, the Sony will fill that role, at least for the short term. The only problem is that I recently started having problems with my remote. #2 and #0 stopped working. Then, all of a sudden, they started working again. Just to be on the safe side, if anyone is going to terminally brick their unit, I'll be happy to buy their remote if they have no further use for it.

Remotes (new) are frequently on eBay for $25. I keep a spare. They get sluggish when you pour wine on to them.
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post #25896 of 28406
11/29/12 at 5:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell View Post

In the 9012 menu, does formatting the hard disk also nuke the TVGOS channel grid and clock?
Tonight I finished dubbing all the recordings that I wanted to keep from one of my DHG's (a 250) to my MacBook via a Hauppauge HD PVR, and deleted them from the DHG. The system menu now shows about 88% free disk space, even though there are no recordings left in the list. I'm curious to see what the free space would be after a re-format, but I'd prefer not to lose the grid and clock prematurely, in case I want to use it as a backup recording device.

Yes, formatting the hard drive wiill wipe the grid.

Mark
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post #25897 of 28406
11/29/12 at 5:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonPerson View Post

DFW is working again.
So we are watching one of the November recorded shows late yesterday. A Sony screen message comes on and says: “The Sony Box needs to turn off so an important program update can be received” (something like that, and the first time I have seen it). So I accept “OK” and not cancel.
[,,,]

You might want to check the Auto Off time setting. It may have gotten set to something other than 1:00 am. That's what the message sounds like to me. It is just telling you if you don't turn off the DVR it will miss the TV Guide download.

Mark
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post #25898 of 28406
11/29/12 at 5:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeKustra View Post

Remotes (new) are frequently on eBay for $25. I keep a spare. They get sluggish when you pour wine on to them.

Nothing worse than a remote that can't hold its alchohol...

Frank, I have the same situation. First cable card free, any ones after that are $2.00/month each.

Working on a deal now with a forum member for a remote. Thanks guys.
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post #25899 of 28406
11/29/12 at 6:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell View Post

In the 9012 menu, does formatting the hard disk also nuke the TVGOS channel grid and clock?

To expand on what Mark said: it's almost like a full factory restore. You lose everything in the 753... screens, patch level, and it starts back with asking for your zipcode. It also displays the sector recovered message. You keep the firmware update if you have .21 installed. And remaining space is 100%. Mine was 99.8% before the format. Your date will be 1/1/90, so if you do it on a Monday at 00:00, you will have the day-of-week correct.
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post #25900 of 28406
11/29/12 at 6:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonPerson View Post

DFW is working again.
So we are watching one of the November recorded shows late yesterday. A Sony screen message comes on and says: “The Sony Box needs to turn off so an important program update can be received” (something like that, and the first time I have seen it). So I accept “OK” and not cancel.
Come back a couple of hours later, and there is no change in anything I can see. So we just watched Survivor live last night and left the box off(what a PITA – Commercials and wasted time).
Anyway, this morning the box must have gotten what it needed and did its own type of “reset” during the night; but it’s not recorded on the reset screen – now that’s strange. And it finally got “two” timezonepackets and a grid. Even though the reset screen does not show this, most of the data flow screens started over – just like it had a front panel reset; but without showing this on the reset screen.
When the Sony does die, the alternatives are bleak. Sort of looking at Boxee, where you pay for the grid via online and your DVR is in the cloud – how stupid is that. The Boxee might be slightly better alternative than TiVo. Basically you pay a lot of money and get a lot less. I may just give up TV and go fishing.
So, if you reformat at midnight on Monday, you have a shot at correct clocks ?


You can stream "on line" all of the ABC, CBS and NBC lineup on demand. It's not quite HD and isn't 5.1, but-I've streamed it out of my mac air, via hdmi, to a 50 inch screen, but it is still watchable. Much of PBS and the comedy channels is also legally streamable. My kids rarely "watch TV" but see a lot of shows on computer.

I need actual landlines for work so I'm not going away from triple play, but between OTA, live streaming, and Netflix, cord cutting in my area would be easy. I'd HTPC at this point, but for the Tivo HD I was gifted....
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post #25901 of 28406
11/29/12 at 7:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedlaw View Post

So, if you reformat at midnight on Monday, you have a shot at correct clocks ?

Most people would say Sunday night, but you will have the proper day of the week. Nothing else. DOW does display with a manual recording, but not the year. Date would be wrong too of course.

If you know someone with a cable feed of TVGOS, you could get the unit in a better condition. Point: when unplugged, the time & date do not advance. As an overflow/conflict recorder it's probably easier to use the WS tool to convert time & date, and not do the format.

A TiVo can offload its recordings to a PC. I do it all the time.
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post #25902 of 28406
11/29/12 at 9:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeKustra View Post

A TiVo can offload its recordings to a PC. I do it all the time.
And that same PC with a dual-tuner can be used as an overflow recorder -- I do that all the time. A simple utility to convert the .ts file to .mpg and that file can be transferred back to the TiVo for playback utilizing the TiVo's commercial skip features.

So many possibilities . . .
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post #25903 of 28406
11/29/12 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedlaw View Post

Has anyone reverse engineered time zone packet ?

Kind of, I know what it looks like, and I believe I have picked out the important piece of information that it delivers (the offset). I found it interesting that the actual date and time of the next DST change is not a part of the packet. I believe the TVGOS software knows when the DST change happens, but has to wait for the offset information to present the correct GMT time for the time change. Which is why that information is shown on the Clocks 1 screen, along with the offset.

Mark
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post #25904 of 28406
11/29/12 at 6:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferrari328 View Post

"Also as an aside, about a year ago I lost the ability to watch my Boston PBS 44.1 channel. It's in my grid and I see its programs. But when I tune in - I get "no signal'. My other HDTV receiver on the same coax and TV gets 44.1 fine. I deleted the number, changed it out for other similar-sounding PBS channels on the grid, punch in 44.1 directly from remote... nothing I do let's me see the channel. I get 44.2, 44.3, and 44.4 fine. Any hints to try? It used to come in fine a year ago, seems the DVR is confused."
Also in Boston and just noticed that I lost 44.1 on cable on 1 of my two DHG. On OTA both are fine. The DHG tunes to 44.1 but it's all black.

Yes - that's my exact behavior too! But I am OTA. DVR tunes into 44.1, but it's all black (and records as all black). Unfortunately it's the only station that let's me record Doc Martin in Boston.

I believe I did do a re-scan a while ago but it did no good.

audioxcel: Yes, it did seem to me at the time that ABC fooling around with the one-minute extra or under on their popular shows might be the culprit. Now that you've noticed it too, at least I have a rule to understand why the ABC "regularly" drops happen. I bet the ABC shows that 'stuck' did not have the extra minute games. Will pay more attention.

I'm working too many hours to have time to re-read all the posts, but it doesn't sound like we have any clear answers or workarounds for:

  1. how to set the clock
  2. how to use the DVR as a dumb no-channel-grid VCR

Is that the status as of the moment?
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post #25905 of 28406
11/29/12 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by teleskier View Post

Yes - that's my exact behavior too! But I am OTA. DVR tunes into 44.1, but it's all black (and records as all black). Unfortunately it's the only station that let's me record Doc Martin in Boston.
I believe I did do a re-scan a while ago but it did no good.
What happened when you tuned to 43.7? If you can find it on 43.7, then I don't know why a channel scan wouldn't map it correctly to 44.1.
Quote:
[...]
I'm working too many hours to have time to re-read all the posts, but it doesn't sound like we have any clear answers or workarounds for:
  1. how to set the clock
  2. how to use the DVR as a dumb no-channel-grid VCR
Is that the status as of the moment?

Number 1 is a problem without a solution. Using the DVR like a VCR is doable, but is much more difficult without a correct clock.

Mark
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post #25906 of 28406
11/30/12 at 4:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by teleskier View Post

  1. how to set the clock
  2. how to use the DVR as a dumb no-channel-grid VCR
For number 2, just mash the record button down and hold it until the manual record menu pops up (3 or 4 seconds). Of course, setting the start and end times may be difficult or impossible as a function of not being able to do number 1.
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post #25907 of 28406
11/30/12 at 6:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by teleskier View Post

Yes - that's my exact behavior too! But I am OTA. DVR tunes into 44.1, but it's all black (and records as all black). Unfortunately it's the only station that let's me record Doc Martin in Boston.
  1. how to set the clock
  2. how to use the DVR as a dumb no-channel-grid VCR
Is that the status as of the moment?
Quote:
Originally Posted by frank70 View Post

For number 2, just mash the record button down and hold it until the manual record menu pops up (3 or 4 seconds). Of course, setting the start and end times may be difficult or impossible as a function of not being able to do number 1.

The absence of a signal displays as a box with "no signal" inside, not a black screen. I waited 10 minutes but the message never went away. With no signal the "hold down the red button" does not work, but you can use "guide" and set a manual recording from the menu. Lack of signal does not make a black/blank recording.

A black screen means you are getting a signal. Use the Sony diagnostics to verify. There is a signal strength level for digital channels.

You can test the above by entering any channel except the one you are watching and do it again. You will hear the relay click and see the no signal display.
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post #25908 of 28406
11/30/12 at 6:40am
Been without the guiide for a several weeks now. Even after frustrating resets I still have time - off by hours from actual time - and date.

Experimented with manual record and it works pretty well. By tuning to channel you want to record, push record list, go to top bar, cursor to schedule, then press menu, select set new manual recording, add hours and minutes to the displayed time as needed and then set begin and end time. ie - if the time display says 8am and your program starts in 30 minutes set to record at 8:30.am.

Everything recorded this way goes into the unkown folder and every entry in the list is named as unknown.

If the date or time finally crashes out I guess I am done.

Cable card so far provides no help as far as getting a date or time update or anything else.
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post #25909 of 28406
11/30/12 at 7:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeKustra View Post

With no signal the "hold down the red button" does not work, but you can use "guide" and set a manual recording from the menu.
Tell me again why you want to schedule a manual recording if you do not have a signal on any channel?
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post #25910 of 28406
11/30/12 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frank70 View Post

Tell me again why you want to schedule a manual recording if you do not have a signal on any channel?

Dunno. I wouldn't.

I was trying to make the point that if you can record a black screen it has a signal.
Edited by JoeKustra - 11/30/12 at 8:12am
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post #25911 of 28406
11/30/12 at 8:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1701b View Post

Been without the guiide for a several weeks now. Even after frustrating resets I still have time - off by hours from actual time - and date.
Experimented with manual record and it works pretty well. By tuning to channel you want to record, push record list, go to top bar, cursor to schedule, then press menu, select set new manual recording, add hours and minutes to the displayed time as needed and then set begin and end time. ie - if the time display says 8am and your program starts in 30 minutes set to record at 8:30.am.
Everything recorded this way goes into the unkown folder and every entry in the list is named as unknown.
If the date or time finally crashes out I guess I am done.
Cable card so far provides no help as far as getting a date or time update or anything else.

You can tune to channel you wish to record and then hold down the red record button for about 5 seconds to get to the manual record screen.

Odds are your host was a PBS channel. You lost your clock & time due to the resets. Time & date will never vaporize. The date starts at 1/1/90 after a reset and the time starts at 00:00. The front panel will indicate --:-- after a power failure until you take the unit out of standby. If your reset was only on the TVGOS menu, the date will be 1/1/2006. Without power the time and date do not advance. You can check the reset log with the 753... screen. That log is wiped clean after a full factory restore from the first 9012 menu, not a TVGOS/front panel reset.
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post #25912 of 28406
11/30/12 at 8:19am
Does anyone know how many of these units were sold ? The cable companies know how many are hooked up with a cablecard, as the DVR has a registration number which is unique to this device. The cable providers are not telling us, so we can't get this number. In any event, since many of the HDD units are OTA, that wouldn't catch probably half of them.

Sony carried this for a very short period of time, got sued by TiVo, and stopped production...I bought mine as closeouts at the Sony Store, only after seeing in this very thread, long ago, they were in the outlets..I live near one and drove over that day.

The first delivery mentioned in this thread from an early adopter is May 13 2005. I bought mine as a repack/B Stock from The Sony Outlet in Woodbury, NY October 13th, 2006, and they were gone by the end of that year from the Outlet store, so they'd gone from new to EOL in an amazing 16 months.

I'd like to point out that yes, it is six years old, but that the (Sony) TV sets I bought before that still work 100% and Sony, et al. isn't arbitrarily shutting them off in April of 2013. I'm sure I won't be buying any further Sony items, unless a clockset shows up.

Has anyone ever seen a "how many" number ?
Edited by speedlaw - 11/30/12 at 8:31am
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post #25913 of 28406
11/30/12 at 8:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedlaw View Post

Does anyone know how many of these units were sold ?

Watching for a while now, I have seen many serial numbers. The lowest for a HDD250 is around 8002000 and the highest is around 8005600. The HDD500 numbers start with 801. Also, from rabbit ears, there are about 150 OTA active feeds and that was before the November/PBS update. My guestimate would be 10k on the low side, 20k on the high side.
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post #25914 of 28406
11/30/12 at 8:47am
Well, assuming s/n are sequential, that's only 3600 of the HDD250, and I'm sure they sold less of the 500......anyone out there want to toss us some numbers ?

Thanks !
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post #25915 of 28406
11/30/12 at 8:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedlaw View Post

Sony carried this for a very short period of time, got sued by TiVo, and stopped production...
Is that a verifiable fact or just another "let's blame TiVo for everything" supposition.
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post #25916 of 28406
11/30/12 at 9:05am

eek.gif

 

Tivo lawsuits are just beginnoing!

 

eek.gif

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post #25917 of 28406
11/30/12 at 9:12am
What exactly does TiVo have patented ? The VCR is existing-Is the TiVo lawsuit the ability to record from a menu ? Time shifting isn't patented. There are several services that sell/provide menus, from Tribune's TV listings to soon to die OTA TVGOS to surviving TV Guide by IP, to ZapToIt on the web to my local newspaper's listings.

If there is a nutshell explanation I'd like it.... TiVo clearly has something simple patented.
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post #25918 of 28406
11/30/12 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson View Post

Is that a verifiable fact or just another "let's blame TiVo for everything" supposition.

I don't have a citation but recall searching this and seeing Sony in a Tivo lawsuit. Sony actually made Tivo units for a while. I like my TiVo unit, by the way, and don't consider the price a ripoff as you are subsiding the low entry price over time.
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post #25919 of 28406
11/30/12 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mabuttra View Post

You might want to check the Auto Off time setting. It may have gotten set to something other than 1:00 am. That's what the message sounds like to me. It is just telling you if you don't turn off the DVR it will miss the TV Guide download.
Mark

Thanks Mark,

Just checked and it is still set to 1AM automatic.

Looks like I am now getting about 3 timezonepkts per 24 hours (total of 6 so far). Be-Zillions of all other packets.

The grids is 8 days complete except for:

The CBS station whick about 70% "No Title" and ABC which is about 40% "No Title".

Hopefully in the next few days the grid will be 100% again.

Oh, it just registered with my brain why I got that message, based on what you said. It was at the time I did not have "any" timezonepkts AND we were watching recordings in the afternoon, but the front panel clock and TVGOS clock was reading about 1AM it was about 12-15 hours off from the "real" Dallas time.
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post #25920 of 28406
11/30/12 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonPerson View Post

When the Sony does die, the alternatives are bleak. Sort of looking at Boxee, where you pay for the grid via online and your DVR is in the cloud – how stupid is that. The Boxee might be slightly better alternative than TiVo. Basically you pay a lot of money and get a lot less. I may just give up TV and go fishing.

Why? Used Tivo HDs with lifetime start around $250, have dual tuners and can be easily upgraded to 2TB storage internally, double that if you use an external drive (I wouldn't). Any used Tivo with a lifetime sub will be substantially better than what you have now, and your Sony is going to be a brick anyway so you might as well start looking.
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